Plans for a new community hub in the County Down seaside town of Newcastle have been boosted with a new investment.

Local centre Greenhill YMCA has secured a grant of £500,000 from the Mourne, Gullion & Lecale Rural Development Partnership (MGL) to bring the project forward.

Greenhill YMCA hosts, on average, 26,000 young people every year, from 34 different communities providing services ranging from Peace building to Vocational Training. The new centre will help the centre add to its extensive list of activities.

The funding will contribute to the construction of a multi-sport, leisure and community hub housing a wide range of facilities including a multi-function hall, workshop area, café and kitchen area, locker rooms with unisex shower and changing cubicles, and a teaching pool with shallow water so participants can train in water safety awareness.

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This investment was from the Basic Services Scheme of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs' (DAERA) Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme (NIRDP) 2014-2020 under the LEADER approach with local people making the decisions on funding.
MGL Chairperson, Councillor Roisin Mulgrew said: "I am delighted to see this large-scale project coming to light, it has been many months in the pipeline. This investment will make a welcome addition to the Newcastle area and will positively add more services on offer to young people from ages 6 to 18. Mourne, Gullion and Lecale Rural Partnership has rolled out various schemes since the programme began in 2014, which has led to local investments in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area."

Jerome Burns, Contract Manager from Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs added: "The Leader Programme, through which this project has been funded, enables local people to determine the needs of their own area and decide how best to address these. This is an excellent example of how the Programme is delivering on the ground. I am certain that the addition of this community hub to the long established facilities at Greenhill YMCA, will be a valued asset to the local community."

The multi-use community hub is due to open in Autumn 2020. 

(CM/MH)